


In Perfect Harmony

by TheWritingWraith



Category: Titanfall (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Depression, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, Gen, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Original Character(s), PTSD, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Plot Twists, Psychological Trauma, Robots, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-21 10:03:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWritingWraith/pseuds/TheWritingWraith
Summary: At the edge of the Frontier, a Titan and a common foot soldier are unexpectedly thrown together in a desperate attempt to prevent a catastrophic event.[TITANFALL 2 SPOILERS | CANON DIVERGENCE | TRIGGER WARNINGS]My first work in a long time, first time on this site. Please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or feedback. Thank you.





	In Perfect Harmony

> _"Of all the things I've seen on the battlefields of the Frontier... The pilot is the true dominant force. Fast and agile. Graceful yet devastating. Perceptive... Resourceful... And relentless. A pilot sees the world differently. Sheer walls become flanking routes. Pilots fight differently. Experienced in deception and maneuver... Even overwhelming odds shift in their favor. But what truly separates the pilot from all the grunts and machines of the battlefield... Is the bond between a pilot and a Titan. When linked to a Titan, a pilot can only be stopped by overwhelming force... Or an equal. The Frontier has been the only home I've ever known. For years, our lands have been destroyed by the IMC... Forcefully taking our resources, polluting and destroying our planets... And killing us off if we try to resist. Despite recent victories at Demeter and beyond, we have a long way to go before the IMC is defeated. Now... I serve as a rifleman in the Militia, fighting to free the Frontier. I'm a long way from becoming a pilot... But when that day comes... I hope I can live up to the honor."_

* * *

**CHAPTER 1 - THE PILOT'S GAUNTLET**

ABOARD THE MCS JAMES MACALLAN

APPROACHING PLANET TYPHON - IMC TERRITORY

"Alright. Here we go... Rifleman Cooper." An older man with vivid gray hair and a deep, rumbling voice suddenly spoke up. He had a bit of an accent, an Australian accent, it sounded like. He rose from the yellow railing he was leaning on and stepped closer to a large, complex looking piece of machinery as he put down a small datapad. Around him, there were other types of machines and plenty of men running around as they prepared for whatever they needed to do next. There were Titans lined up on the other side of the room, shut down until they were required for battle. Inside of the small pod looking machine was a younger man with a relaxed yet determined look on his face. Rifleman Jack Cooper. He was the trainee of the great Captain Tai Lastimosa. He watched Cpt. Lastimosa step closer quickly, pressing buttons on the side of the machine. But after a moment, he sighed and let out a low growl as he slammed his palm on the side of the machine. It shook and rattled a bit before settling again. Jack made no move and said nothing. Something wasn't right, though. "Shit. Well, it looks like the ship must've power cycled the sim pod since last time. We need to recalibrate it."

Lastimosa began to walk away as Jack gave a small nod and reached up for a console. It was just above him and in front of him, some lights illuminating the console and part of the inside of the machine. The young man didn't waste a second as he flipped a switch up on the left side, flipped a switch down on the right side, pressed two buttons on the left and then one on the right before grabbing a larger lever in the middle and yanking that down. As he retracted his hand, two metal doors began sliding closed in front of him. The left one slid closed first before the right side. If it hadn't been for a few small lights in various spots on the inside of the machine, the man would be in total darkness right now. He sighed softly and waited a moment as two bright red lights came on in front of him. He made sure to look directly at them, making sure to keep aligned properly. After just a split millisecond, the lights went from red to blue. That was a good sign.

"Everything feel alright, Cooper?" Lastimosa's voice echoed into his ears through his helmet. Jack could only smile as he coolly responded back.

"All good, Captain." There was a brief pause before Lastimosa spoke up again.

"Alright, we're good to go then." Lastimosa had a stern tone of voice, but at the same time it was gentle. It was a voice that often pushed, sometimes hard, but was the kind of voice that could also be gentler and was always supportive. "Let's see how much you remember from last time." He was a good mentor, a great mentor. Most definitely one of the best out there. And he was a legendary soldier, hero. Nobody could best him, it seemed. Or his Titan. Lastimosa was the kind of soldier Jack aspired to be - the kind of pilot he aspired to be. "Setting the neural link. It is not the same as a Titan's link, but it does have some similarities."

Lastimosa fell quiet as the pod suddenly darkened a bit. Then, without warning, green lights lit up all over the inside of the pod. Jack squinted a bit, carefully watching and waiting. His heart picked up a bit as excitement washed over him, but he managed to hide it otherwise. After two green lights on either side of Jack briefly seemed to scan him, Lastimosa's voice echoed through his helmet again and flew smoothly into his ears. "To learn new skills, we need to be in the right state of mind." As Lastimosa finished his sentence, there was a bright burst of white around Jack. He shut his eyes for a moment, but was quick to open them back up. Everything in this pod was so life-like and realistic. Thankfully, though, it was no longer possible to die in this simulations.

As Jack looked around, everything around him seemed to suddenly materialize from tiny blue particles. He wasn't sure exactly where he was this time, but there were tall stone walls around him and beautiful trees with pink leaves in the distance. It was beautiful and he couldn't help but gaze about in wonder. He's seen many wondrous things inside this pod, but each and every time, he always felt more surprised and awed than the last time. This pod was certainly something else, and it wasn't even the best of their technologies. Things have become so advanced, it was honestly mind blowing when one really thought about it. Jack looked down at his hand where a P2016 was suddenly there. He looked it over a minute, made sure it was loaded and gave a small nod. "Ah, much better." Stepping forward, Jack spotted Lastimosa sitting on a lone plank of wood that was connected on either side of the walls. He smiled at Jack from where was sitting, at the far right, and crossed his arms tightly over his chest. Technically, I shouldn't be training you. But I see the potential in you. And we're at war so there isn't exactly time for classes, eh?"

Lastimosa hummed lowly as Jack didn't respond, simply waiting for his next directions. He was dedicated and determined. He was hard working and always went above and beyond the call of duty. But he could be a little more sociable, Lastimosa felt. He was too quiet, sometimes. Uncrossing his arms, Lastimosa re-positioned himself on the plank of wood and gestured to it lazily. "C'mon, up and over. We got work to do." Jack gave a nod as he quickly hopped over the wood. And then a moment later, there was a bright blue streak to his left. That must have been Lastimosa, teleporting himself to the other side. Jack smirked a bit and broke into a sprint, hurrying after his captain. In a matter of moments, he reached the other side, and was even more surprised than when he first entered this simulation. Everything here was so damn gorgeous. It was definitely a nice change from the explosions, death and destruction he was usually caught up in. 

"Jumpkits operate on the principle of relaxed stability. Once your jumpkit calibrates to your movement style, enhanced mobility becomes second nature." Lastimosa sat upon what looked like a sort of fountain. There was a small tree in the center of it with pink leaves like all the other trees. Jack couldn't recall the name of that specific tree at the moment. He gazed at his surroundings for a long moment before noticing his captain had disappeared again. He had to keep up. So Jack spun to the left, sprinting up the steps that were there. They curled up to an opening which led to a long bridge. And out in the distance, there were other variously sized pieces of rock just floating above the ground amongst a few pink trees. The ground, which was a mix of pure green and vibrant beige, was vast and seemingly never-ending. Above it, there was an endless, bright sky. It wasn't blue but white, like they were in heaven or some other pure utopia. It was breathtaking, really. Jack gasped softly as his head swiveled about, his eyes widened just slightly. As he gaped at his surroundings, captain Lastimosa chuckled lowly and looked over at him thoughtfully. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Jack scoffed at that, as though beautiful was barely nicking the surface. But then he quickly nodded, looking over to his mentor. "I... It's breathtaking, Sir. But where are we?" He stepped closer to Lastimosa, watching as the older man looked away. His eyes dimmed a bit, as though he was suddenly flooded with painful memories. Jack waited, wondering if he shouldn't have asked.

Finally, Lastimosa spoke up, turning away from Jack. He began to walk this time and Jack followed. "It's inspired by my home planet, Harmony. This... Is where I grew up." Jack listened as he looked around again. Harmony, huh? It was an incredibly beautiful place. And Jack hoped he would get a chance to actually see the real thing for himself one day. "This is what we're fighting for, Cooper." Lastimosa stopped walking and suddenly teleported away from Jack. He froze a moment, looking around before he suddenly spotted his captain again. There was a wall up ahead, a chocolaty brown color. And where that wall was, there was no bridge left. There was a gap, impossible to jump but not impossible to cross. Jack knew what he had to do and he did it with ease - gracefully leaping on and then quickly off the wall after a moment. He fell with a soft thud on the other side of the bridge, where Lastimosa smiled at him before teleporting away again. He had to keep up. 

Jack ran after his captain, noticing a jumble of rocks obscuring most of his path. Most, but not all. Just underneath, there was a space small enough for him to crawl under. Or slide, which is exactly what Jack did. It was smooth and felt amazing as always. Even though they were small and simple actions, they always were quick to fill him with excitement. Once Jack was clear, he rolled into a sprint again, watching as his captain quickly took off ahead of him. He wondered for a moment if he would be able to keep up with his captain in a race. Without the teleporting, of course. He still couldn't quite beat his captain in hand to hand, but he was getting better. Thanks to Lastimosa, Jack was learning so much and he was so grateful for all that his captain has done for him. He knew he needed to be sure to tell him that one day.

Jack was able to keep up for the most part, quickly getting more and more used to his suit. He felt like he was flying at times, or as though time stopped completely while he followed through with his actions. It was indescribable and Jack wished it were truly real. Soon, someday hopefully. But for now, he had to be content with just this. "We've retaken over a quarter of Frontier space since the battle of Demeter. The Militia's better organized now. More people join everyday to fight the IMC. People like you." As captain Lastimosa said that, Jack grinned. That was certainly good news. He knew there were also those that sided with the IMC, their forces growing just as the Militia's was. But Jack tried not to focus too hard on that. They'd win in the end. He knew that. The IMC was strong and relentless. But they were stronger and even more relentless. 

Halfway through training, Jack was challenged with a sort of time trial. Captain Lastimosa explained a little bit about it to him, telling him he was free to do 'The Pilot's Gauntlet' as much as he liked. Of course, Jack didn't plan on doing it just once. That was excellent training. But at the same time, he didn't want to linger for too long. There might have been more that Lastimosa wanted to show him. When Jack finally finished his last run, Captain Lastimosa was looking rather incredulously at him. Jack panted softly, still too out of breath to talk just yet. This simulation was exact right down to the physical feelings Jack would have felt if this were real. Fatigue, strain, sweat even. Instead of speaking, he made a confused grunt noise. Lastimosa gestured to the board next to him where many names were lined up next to times, like some sort of leaderboard. 

The board read, from bottom to top - C. Dionne, S. Briggs, E. Anderson, C. Grenier, J. Cooper, T. Lastimosa, S. Fukuda, R. Hakik, and G. Sager. Jack stared for a moment before letting out a small huff as he smiled. Fifth place wasn't so bad. Just a little more and he would have beat his Captain. But Jack was exhausted now and there was still much to learn. He had to move on. "All done, then, Cooper?" Lastimosa laughed as he leaned against a nearby wall. Jack took a moment to breathe before quickly jogging after him. Challenging as it was, Jack relished it. This was practice and knowledge. He wanted to know everything, learn everything and be everything that he could be. There was no time for breaks or rest.

Lastimosa figured Jack was done for now as the younger male stopped in front of him. He moved away from the wall and began to press buttons on his glove. "Alright. Now it's time for you to learn the other half of being a pilot - the Titan. Let's call one in, yeah?" Jack could feel his heart skip a bit as Lastimosa spoke those words. He was really going to call a titan in? Jack felt his energy immediately return to him and he stood up straighter, speaking before he could even think.

"It's about time." He paused a moment. "I'm ready." Unlike the last time he said that, Jack actually sounded more sure of himself. 

Lastimosa laughed softly and nodded. "Good! That's what I wanna hear." Lastimosa looked around and there was a slight bit of amusement in his voice now. "First things, we're going to need more space." Jack didn't have time to ask or say anything as suddenly everything changed in a bright flash of white. It was so sudden and so quick, Jack needed a moment to fully register it. He looked around, once again in absolute awe. It looked as though they were no in the field not too far away from the bridge, where the simulation first began. They stood atop a platform but other than that, there were miles of just beautiful plains. It was ethereal, really. A soft breeze, heavenly skies, gorgeous trees and the subtle presence of the floating rocks around them. Jack felt like he could stay here forever, really. Though, there was one thing he noticed that stood out from everything else - a Titan.

It sat crouched a few meters away, seemingly idle until given some commands. Jack recognized it from outside of the simulation. It was sitting behind Lastimosa in the hangar, watching as the pair set the simulation up. Jack stared at it in wonder and Lastimosa must have caught him staring. "That's my partner, BT. He is a vanguard-class Titan. Homegrown Militia tech. The first Titan chassis we designed ourselves. One we didn't have to steal from the IMC." Lastimosa seemed proud, staring off at his partner with a wide smile. Jack had only heard about the bonds between pilot and Titan but he could never begin to know what it actually felt like, what it actually entailed. Jack looked away from Lastimosa and back at the Titan, BT. It stood now, watching and waiting. The readings on Jack's helmet told him the Titan was registered as BT - 7274. Jack smiled softly. Even from this distance, it looked like quite the machine. A wonder, a huge step for mankind. Without the Titans, Jack wondered if they'd ever have gotten this far.

"What are you waiting for? Go ahead and call in your first Titan." Jack felt his heart stop at those words. It was just a simulation. But those words made him so happy and excited, he could barely contain the grin spread across his lips. Without wasting another moment, Jack raised his arm and pressed a few buttons. A marker appeared through the screen on his helmet, signaling that the Titan was set to land just a few meters from BT. It would arrive in t-minus fifteen seconds. Jack stared, anxiously waiting to see it plummet from the sky. When he finally caught a glimpse of it, Jack felt his heart suddenly begin hammering in his chest. But then...

The Titan froze in midair and everything seemed to glitch out violently. Jack stumbled back a bit, surprised and - for a moment - worried. But then, just as quickly as it started, it had stopped. Everything went completely black for a few seconds. And then words appeared on Jack's screen. He felt his heart plummet. "Alright, rifleman." Lastimosa's voice echoed through his helmet once again. "It sounds like it's about to hit the fan. I'm going to pull you out." Why now? Why did this have to happen now? He was just about to get to the training he had always been waiting for! Jack heaved a heavy sigh as the words flashed and flickered on the screen.

_SRS SIMPOD OS V04 . 118_

_ROOT : $ SYSTEM ERROR: LOW POWER_

Voices called out around Jack, but they weren't directed at him. However, it sounded as though it was time for deployment. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. As he did so, he heard a familiar voice call out to him, yelling at him to get prepared. But Lastimosa hushed him gently. "Easy now, Cole. He's just left VR, he needs a moment to decompress. He'll be ready to go, trust me." Jack opened his eyes then just as those green lights came back on. They scanned over him again and then he reached up slowly to yank up the lever on the console above him. He sighed as the doors swished open, a rush of air flowing over him. Everything was slow in coming into focus. "Heads up - they're killing us. Or trying to." Lastimosa watched Jack, holding a large battery in his hand. At least, that's what it looked like. Jack sat forward a bit, watching as Lastimosa handed the battery to his Titan. BT. Jack admired him, looking over every nook and cranny. He was huge, towering up to at least 20-something feet. It was just amazing and Jack always felt astounded when he was in the presence of a Titan. He sort of wondered exactly how they were made, all the little bits and pieces. It was truly intriguing.

"Cooper." Lastimosa interrupted his thoughts. He smiled kindly. "That was a good session in there. I know you'll get the hang of it someday. We are going to make a pilot out of you yet, rifleman. But not today, no time." Lastimosa made sure he had everything he needed as another came up to him with a small chuckle.

"Lastimosa! You son of a bitch. I'll see you down there." They firmly shook hands and Lastimosa only responded with the man's name - Anderson. Jack smiled and nodded as Anderson left after the handshake. Then his attention turned back to Lastimosa. He was carefully hopping up onto the railing and BT waited patiently with his cockpit doors open. Lastimosa hummed.

"We're going to a new planet. Maybe we'll even die on it." He seemed to think that was funny. But Jack wasn't as fond of the idea of dying. Not before he got to pilot his first Titan, at least. Lastimosa wished him good luck and Jack just flashed a thumbs up, watching as Lastimosa disappeared with his Titan. A tinge of disappointment settled into him. He was so close, so close! Maybe today was just not the day. But someday. Jack wouldn't give up, he wouldn't stop fighting to attain his dream. He could do it. He just had to work harder keep giving all that he had. With a deep sigh, Jack looked around. Just as he started to, though, a gun flew at him quickly. He barely caught it in time. 

"Get your ass out of the simpod, Cooper. Meet at the dropship. Let's move!" Captain Cole didn't wait for a response, and Jack just gave a small nod. _Sir, yes, sir._ He checked his gun as he jumped out of the simpod, watching others running by and getting ready to be deployed. He needed to focus.

It was showtime.


End file.
